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Nvidia strikes US$12.9bn deal to acquire Hugging Face
Nvidia has agreed to acquire artificial intelligence platform Hugging Face for approximately US$12.9 billion, marking one of the chipmaker's largest acquisitions as it expands further into AI software. Founded in 2016, Hugging Face has grown into a popular platform where developers and researchers can discover, share and test AI models and tools. Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang said in a press release: "I’m excited to announce that NVIDIA has agreed to acquire Hugging Face for $12,930,300,000. Together, we will scale Hugging Face’s platform, strengthen its infrastructure and expand access to AI for developers and institutions worldwide. "Over the past decade, Clem, Julien, Thomas and the team at Hugging Face have built something remarkable: a vibrant home for the open model developer community. “More than 18 million developers, researchers and creators use Hugging Face to share more than 3 million models, 500,000 datasets and 1 million applications. More than 200,000 companies use the platform to discover, evaluate, customise and deploy AI.” The acquisition would bring one of the world's largest AI developer communities under Nvidia's control and give the chipmaker ownership of a leading open-source platform
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OpenAI completes US$7bn share sale ahead of IPO
OpenAI has reportedly completed a secondary share sale worth roughly US$7 billion (A$9.91 billion), allowing current and former employees to sell shares at the company's $852 billion valuation. The tender offer has been in the works since OpenAI closed its record $122 billion funding round in March. The transaction is expected to ease near-term liquidity pressures by allowing employees to cash in part of their holdings ahead of a potentially massive initial public offering. Bloomberg was first to report the $7 billion figure. OpenAI rose to prominence following the launch of its ChatGPT chatbot in 2022 and has since become one of the world's fastest-growing private companies. The company confidentially filed its prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Commission in June, although it has not disclosed an official timeline for a public listing. Secondary share sales have become an important part of OpenAI's pre-IPO strategy. The company completed a $6.6 billion tender offer at a $500 billion valuation in October, followed by a $1.5 billion tender offer in 2024.
Tech
Michael Burry warns stock rally may be nearing major top
Michael Burry, the investor made famous by “The Big Short”, is maintaining his bearish stance on markets despite the S&P 500 pushing to record highs, warning that the rally could still end in a sharp reversal similar to the 1987 stock market crash. “I continue to believe it is possible we are near a major top, and possible a 1987-type fall, but the S&P 500 making new highs likely will bring new money into the market,” Burry said in a Tuesday Substack post. The warning came as the S&P 500 surged 1.9% to its first record close since June, supported by stronger-than-expected corporate earnings and falling oil prices as hopes increased that the Strait of Hormuz could reopen to shipping. The Nasdaq Composite jumped 2.7%, extending its two-day gain to nearly 5%. Burry has become one of Wall Street’s most prominent critics of the artificial intelligence boom, arguing that the rapid expansion of AI infrastructure spending may be supported by financing structures that are difficult to sustain. The investor said the market’s gains have created a self-reinforcing cycle, where declining volatility encourages systematic funds to increase exposure and adds further momentum to the rally. “Remember, the market going up on falling v
Tech
Uber shares fall 5.3% amid weak outlook
Uber shares declined on Wednesday after the company issued a weaker-than-expected outlook for third-quarter bookings and earnings, overshadowing revenue growth and a second-quarter result that broadly matched analyst expectations. Shares closed 5.3% lower following the earnings release. Uber reported earnings per share of 81 cents, compared with expectations of 80 cents, while revenue came in at US$14.19 billion, slightly below forecasts of $14.24 billion. Revenue increased 12% from $12.65 billion a year earlier, while net income rose to $2.39 billion, or $1.17 per share, from $1.35 billion, or 63 cents per share, in the same period last year. The company’s core mobility business generated $7.36 billion in second-quarter revenue, while delivery revenue reached $5.25 billion. Mobility gross bookings increased 22% year-on-year to $28.99 billion, while delivery bookings jumped 26% to $27.46 billion. Total bookings reached $58 billion, exceeding the average analyst estimate of $57.23 billion, according to StreetAccount. However, Uber’s third-quarter guidance fell short of expectations. The company forecast bookings of $59.25 billion at the midpoint of its range, below the $59.33 billion analyst estimate. Uber a
Tech
Palantir raises revenue outlook after earnings beat
Palantir Technologies lifted its full-year revenue forecast after reporting stronger-than-expected second-quarter results, driven by continued demand for its artificial intelligence-powered data analytics platform. The company's shares surged 13.7% in extended trading after it posted earnings that exceeded analysts' expectations. Palantir reported earnings per share (EPS) of $0.41, ahead of forecasts of $0.34, while revenue rose to $1.94 billion from expectations of $1.81 billion. Revenue increased 93% from about $1 billion in the same quarter a year earlier. Net income climbed to $1.07 billion, or 41 cents per share, compared with approximately $329 million, or 13 cents per share, a year earlier. Chief executive Alex Karp highlighted the company's accelerating profitability in a letter to shareholders. "Put simply, we have now generated more profit in a single quarter than we did in total revenue in the same period the year before. And the core of our business, in the United States, continues to expand at an unrelenting and breakneck pace." Palantir's U.S. government revenue increased 90% year-on-year to $809 million. While the company remains best known for supplying software to the U.S. government and milit

Tech
Amazon beats cloud forecasts on AI demand
Amazon exceeded Wall Street expectations for cloud computing growth in the second quarter and raised its annual capital expenditure forecast, signalling that strong demand for artificial intelligence services continues to support its aggressive infrastructure investment. Shares of the Seattle-based technology and e-commerce giant jumped more than 9% in after-hours trading before easing to trade about 8% higher, following a 3.9% gain during the regular session. The company reported earnings per share of $5.75, well above expectations of $1.82. Revenue came in at $200.61 billion, ahead of the consensus estimate of $197.03 billion. Revenue from Amazon Web Services (AWS) climbed 37% to $42.2 billion in the quarter ended 30 June, comfortably exceeding analysts' expectations for growth of 31.21%. “AWS is booming, growing 36.7% year-over-year in Q2—our fastest growth in 18 quarters—and our AI and Chips businesses each eclipsed run rates of more than $25 billion,” said Andy Jassy, President and CEO, Amazon. “In Stores, we again set record delivery speeds for Prime members in the first half of the year—over 40% more items delivered same-day or overnight, with Grocery and Everyday Essentials growing meaningfully faster than the
Tech
Microsoft jumps as AI demand lifts revenue outlook
Microsoft shares surged 9% in extended trading on Wednesday (Thursday AEST) after the software giant reported stronger-than-expected fiscal fourth-quarter results and maintained its 2026 capital spending plans, citing continued demand across its portfolio. The company reported adjusted earnings per share of US$4.74, beating expectations of $4.24, while revenue came in at $90.01 billion compared with forecasts of $87.62 billion. Microsoft’s revenue increased about 18% year over year in the quarter ended 30 June, while net income rose to $35.77 billion, or $4.81 per share, from $27.23 billion, or $3.65 per share, a year earlier. The company said results were boosted by a $3.2 billion gain from its investment in artificial intelligence firm Anthropic and lower-than-expected costs linked to its first voluntary retirement programme. Its Xbox gaming business, however, received an impairment charge. Microsoft said commercial remaining performance obligations, which measure unearned and unrecognised revenue, increased 8% to US$678 billion from the previous quarter, driven by commitments from clients outside AI model developers. Capital expenditure and finance leases reached US$41 billion during the quarter, up 69%. Micro
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Alphabet tops estimates but raises AI spending
Alphabet reported stronger-than-expected second-quarter results on Wednesday, driven by rapid growth in its cloud business, but Class A shares fell 3.2% in extended trading after the Google parent lifted its 2026 capital expenditure forecast as it accelerates investment in artificial intelligence infrastructure. The company reported earnings per share of US$9.11, well ahead of expectations for $2.88, while revenue rose to $119.8 billion, beating the $117.07 billion expected. Growth was supported by an 82% surge in Google Cloud revenue as businesses continued increasing AI-related spending. However, investors focused on Alphabet's higher spending outlook. The company now expects 2026 capital expenditure of $195 billion to $205 billion, up from its previous forecast of $180 billion to $190 billion. Finance chief Anat Ashkenazi said demand for AI computing capacity continues to outstrip supply. “We’re still in a supply-constrained environment. I think we’ve said this now for multiple quarters in a row, and we are seeing very strong demand both from external cloud customers as well as across the business.” Alphabet said its Gemini application now has 950 million monthly active users and is capable of processing 22 bi
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SMCI margins surge on SpaceXAI orders
Super Micro Computer (NASDAQ: SMCI) surged 7.0% to close at US$25.50 during Tuesday's United States deals, before rallying a further 19% in extended trade after disclosing it collected more than $60 billion in new orders during Q4, a haul that dwarfs the backlog investors had priced in ahead of formal earnings. The company also lifted its gross margin outlook to a range of 15% to 17%, nearly double the 8.2% to 8.4% band management had guided to in May - a revision it attributed to a more favourable customer and product mix. SMCI chief executive Charles Liang tied the surge to work with SpaceXAI, the entity Elon Musk formed when SpaceX completed its all-stock acquisition of xAI in February, and fully absorbed the AI unit by early July. Liang told investors the partnership now anchors a new wave of gigawatt-scale AI data centre builds, a claim that helped explain why the margin revision landed as it did. Rivals felt the updraft too, with Dell Technologies climbing 5% and Hewlett Packard Enterprise adding 4% in extended trading, as the update reinforced accelerating demand across the AI server supply chain. Revenue for the June quarter is expected to land at the low end of Super Micro's previously issued $11-12.5 billi